• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.394-401
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• 2020

As embryonic stem cells become pluripotent, they may cause tumor development when injected into a host. Therefore, researchers are focusing heavily on the therapeutic potential of tissue-specific stem cells (adult stem cells) without resultant tumor formation. Adult stem cells can proliferate for a limited number of generations and are restricted to certain cell types (multipotent). Mature tissue cell types in mammals cannot be intrinsically dedifferentiated or transdifferentiated to adult stem cells. Hence, the technology of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for reprogramming adult somatic cells was introduced in 2006, ushering in a new era in adult stem cell research. Although iPSCs have been widely used in the field, the approach has several limitations: instability of the reprogramming process, risk of incomplete reprogramming, and exposure to transgenes integrated into the cell genome. Two years before the introduction of the iPSC technique, the synthetic small molecule 2,6-disubstituted purine, called reversine, was introduced. Reversine can induce the dedifferentiation of committed cells into multipotent progenitor-type cells by reprogramming and converting adult cells to other cell types under appropriate stimuli. Thus, it can be used as a chemically induced multipotent cell agent to overcome the limitations of iPSCs. Also, as an alternative therapeutic approach for treating obesity, it can be used to generate beige cells by browning white adipocytes. While reversine has the potential to act as an anti-cancer agent, this review focuses on its role in differentiation, dedifferentiation, and transdifferentiation in somatic cells.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2007

The term, "food safety", has traditionally been viewed as a practical science aimed at assuring the prevention acute illnesses caused by biological microorganisms, and only to a minor extent, chronic diseases cause by chronic low level exposures to natural and synthetic chemicals or pollutants. "food safety" meant to prevent microbiological agents/toxins in/on foods, due to contamination any where from "farm to Fork", from causing acute health effects, especially to the young, immune-compromised, genetically-predisposed and elderly. However, today a broader view must also include the fact that diet, perse (nutrients, vitamins/minerals, calories), as well as low level toxins and pollutant or supplemented synthetic chemicals, can alter gene expressions of stem/progenitor/terminally-differentiated cells, leading to chronic inflammation and other mal-functions that could lead to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, atherogenesis and possibly reproductive and neurological disorders. Understanding of the mechanisms by which natural or synthetic chemical toxins/toxicants, in/on food, interact with the pathogenesis of acute and chronic diseases, should lead to a "systems" approach to "food safety". Clearly, the interactions of diet/food with the genetic background, gender, and developmental state of the individual, together with (a) interactions of other endogenous/exogenous chemicals/drugs; (b) the specific biology of the cells being affected; (c) the mechanisms by which the presence or absence of toxins/toxicants and nutrients work to cause toxicities; and (d) how those mechanisms affect the pathogenesis of acute and/or chronic diseases, must be integrated into a "system" approach. Mechanisms of how toxins/toxicants cause cellular toxicities, such as mutagenesis; cytotoxicity and altered gene expression, must take into account (a) irreversible or reversal changes caused by these toxins or toxicants; (b)concepts of thresholds or no-thresholds of action; and (c) concepts of differential effects on stem cells, progenitor cells and terminally differentiated cells in different organs. This brief Commentary tries to illustrate this complex interaction between what is on/in foods with one disease, namely cancer. Since the understanding of cancer, while still incomplete, can shed light on the multiple ways that toxins/toxicants, as well as dietary modulation of nutrients/vitamins/metals/ calories, can either enhance or reduce the risk to cancer. In particular, diets that alter the embryo-fetal micro-environment might dramatically alter disease formation later in life. In effect "food safety" can not be assessed without understanding how food could be 'toxic', or how that mechanism of toxicity interacts with the pathogenesis of any disease.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to analyze internal research trends of work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) and provide problems of researches forward. Methods : 6 Korean databases were searched for articles of WMSDs published from 2000 to 2012, and 264 research were systematic reviewed. An analytical method was used descriptive statistics, an actual number and percentage. Results : The results of distribution by year were reported more than 20 articles after 2004, and 45 articles in 2009. Industrial classification distribution of research subjects the manufacturing industry was many most at the 84. Research contents in most description were 147 whether it was risk factor and relation. Research design type of articles was most description survey research 226. In the research field 89 articles were reported to the journal related to technologies. Conclusions : It is considered to be necessary that ergonomic approach would cooperate with other approaches such as integrated health management system as well as industrial medicine considering psychosocial factors.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.727-739
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• 1998

The main objectives o reservoir optimal operation can be described as follows : maximization of the benefits through optimal allocation of the limited water resources for various purpose; minimization of t도 costs by the flood damage in potential damaging regions and risk of dam failure, etc. through safe drainage of a bulky volume of excessive water by a proper reservoir operation. Reviewing the past research works related to reservoir operation, we can find that the study on the matter of the former has been extensively carried out in last decades rather than the matter of the latter. This study is focused on developing a methodology of optimal reservoir operation for flood control, and a case study is performed on the Chungju multipurpose reservoir in Korea. The final goal of the study is to establish a reservoir optimal operation system which can search optimal policy to compromise two conflicting objectives: downstream flood damage and dam safety-upstream flood damage. In order to reach the final goal of the study, the following items were studied : (1)validation of hydrological data using HYMOS: (2)establishment of a downstream flood routing model coupling a rainfall-runoff model and SOBEK system for 1-D hydrodynamic flood routing; (3)replication of a flood damage estimation model by a neural network; (4)development of an integrated reservoir optimization module for an optimal operation policy.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.360-367
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• 2010

The genetic diversity and structure of P. tongkangensis in 5 populations from 3 regions was investigated using 56 markers derived from 6 ISSR primers. Genetic diversity at the species level (P=94.6, SI=0.377, h=0.240) was substantial considering the limited distribution and small size of populations. Genetic differentiation among regions (12%) and among populations (13%) in the region was not clearly evident, which suggested a moderate level of gene flow among adjacent populations. The Mantel test revealed a significant correlation between genetic differentiation (${\Phi}_{ST}$) and geographic distance among populations. This was supported by cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). The significant difference in marker band frequency at many loci and their fixation in opposite directions in the smallest and most isolated population SC were considered due to genetic drift. Therefore, the genetic diversity of P. tongkangensis could be compromised if the distribution area or the size of the population was further reduced. In particular, small and isolated populations could be at great risk of extinction. Considering this, the unique habitats of P. tongkangensis should be protected and the reduction of population size should be closely monitored. Conservation efforts including the seeding and planting of seedlings should be done carefully based on their genetic and ecological traits. Our data support the argument that establishing an integrated management system for the efficient conservation of P. tongkangensis is critical.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.136-145
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• 2011

One of a large proportion among the causes of fire is electrical factors, and of fire by electric factors, the accident which accounted for over certain percentage is electric leakage and ground fault. In order to reduce the electric leakage and ground fault, the technical guidelines on the protection of ground fault in the low-voltage electrical line (KECG 1091-2011) was amended for reflecting recent international standard, IEC 60364-4-41, and new conservation methods, which improved the reliability by recovering the facility's all-time use operation and breakdown defect, was on the rise. Accordingly, in this paper, after grasping the fire's status for last 10 years and analyzing the risk of electrical fires, and as a way to improve the electric leakage and ground fault accident which accounted for more than certain percentage, the revision of KECG 1091-2011 will be reviewed. And then, after applying to the preventive conservation methods in order to enhance the protection reliability of electric leakage and ground fault detection, the problems at issue routine inspection scheme and durable years scheme in time-scheduled conservation method are listed, along with suggestion of the problem-solving scheme, and the leakage current integrated monitoring systems and digital electric leakage devices by status monitor conservation method will be proposed.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2017

Purpose: To identify baseline prognostic factors for survival in patients with disease progression, during or after chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer. Materials and Methods: We pooled data from patients randomized between 2009 and 2012 in 2 phase III, global double-blind studies of ramucirumab for the treatment of advanced gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma following disease progression on first-line platinum- and/or fluoropyrimidine-containing therapy (REGARD and RAINBOW). Forty-one key baseline clinical and laboratory factors common in both studies were examined. Model building started with covariate screening using univariate Cox models (significance level=0.05). A stepwise multivariable Cox model identified the final prognostic factors (entry+exit significance level=0.01). Cox models were stratified by treatment and geographic region. The process was repeated to identify baseline prognostic quality of life (QoL) parameters. Results: Of 1,020 randomized patients, 953 (93%) patients without any missing covariates were included in the analysis. We identified 12 independent prognostic factors of poor survival: 1) peritoneal metastases; 2) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score 1; 3) the presence of a primary tumor; 4) time to progression since prior therapy <6 months; 5) poor/unknown tumor differentiation; abnormally low blood levels of 6) albumin, 7) sodium, and/or 8) lymphocytes; and abnormally high blood levels of 9) neutrophils, 10) aspartate aminotransferase (AST), 11) alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and/or 12) lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Factors were used to devise a 4-tier prognostic index (median overall survival [OS] by risk [months]: high=3.4, moderate=6.4, medium=9.9, and low=14.5; Harrell's C-index=0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64-0.68). Addition of QoL to the model identified patient-reported appetite loss as an independent prognostic factor. Conclusions: The identified prognostic factors and the reported prognostic index may help clinical decision-making, patient stratification, and planning of future clinical studies.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.389-409
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• 2012

The Switched Bill of Lading(SBL) has been in frequent use in recent years as intermediary trade increases with the growing number of companies' overseas subsidiaries. Its frequent use, though, has brought about disputes regarding its illegal issue. Although there are several legal cases regarding this, studies on this issue are hard to find. Therefore, this study tries to provide countermeasures and precautions against unlawful issues of SBL through examining the legal cases resulting from illegal issuing practices of SBL. When the Switched Bill of Lading is issued, the shipper, consignee, port of loading and unloading, and shipping date of the original bill of lading are usually changed. Statements which may put the shipper at a disadvantageous position may also be deleted and/or the bill of lading may be either divided or integrated when it is issued. However, if the carrier issues the SBL 1)without withdrawing original BL, 2)indicating the shipping date, port of loading and port of discharge falsely, or 3)deleting the statements which may give him disadvantages, it may be regarded as an illegal issue. These unlawful issues of SBL may pose a huge threat to the shipper, banks and the parties relating to the trade. That is, the shipper may take a substantial loss when the goods can be delivered to a third party by SBL without his collecting the proceeds. The issuing bank and the negotiating bank may also have their security rights to the goods hampered by the illegal and improper issue of SBL. In most cases, the carrier has no choice but to issue the SBL without collecting the original BL for fear of hurting the relationship with the intermediary traders. This practice of issuing more than two sets of BL may pose a potential risk to the carrier.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.52-68
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the weight loss effects of auricular acupuncture in obese patients. Methods: Six databases (Research Information Sharing Service [RISS], Korean studies Information Service System [KISS], Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS], PubMed, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI]) were searched up to May 20, 2020. Eight eligible randomized controlled trials were included the present study. The quality of included studies was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool and a meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager software. A meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model and a subgroup analysis was performed to detect the sources of heterogeneity, identify the selection of acupuncture methods and explore its contributions to the weight loss effects. Results: Among 8 trials, 5 trials used auricular acupuncture and 2 trials used auricular acupressure, 1 trial used both types of intervention. Most commonly selected acupoints were Shenmen (TF4) and stomach (CO4). Treatment duration was six to twelve weeks, and total treatment session was six to twelve. Compared to the control groups, auricular acupuncture significantly decreased body weight, body mass index (BMI), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL) and ghrelin. For the selection of acupuncture methods, both methods performed similarly in most outcome except waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage (BFP), and triglycerides (TG). Conclusions: We found that auricular acupuncture can be effective for weight loss and controlling appetite. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to heterogeneity. So further vigorous and well-designed studies should be conducted to strengthen the evidence of the use of auricular acupuncture for obesity.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.367-380
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• 2013

In this study, sub-indicators, and thematic mid-indexes to evaluate the water use characteristics were selected through historical data analysis and factor analysis, and consisted of the subject approach framework. And the integrated index was developed to evaluate water use characteristics of the watershed. Using developed index, the water use characteristics were assessed for 812 standard basins with the exception for North Korea using data of 1990 to 2007 from the relevant agencies. A sensitivity analysis is conducted for this study to determine the proper way through various normalization and weighting methods. To increase the objectivity of developed index, the history of the damage indicators are excluded in the analysis. In addition, in order to ensure its reliability, results from index with and without consideration of the damage history were compared. Also, the index is also applied to real data for 2008 Gangwon region to verify its field applicability. Through the validation process this index confirmed the adequacy for the indicators selection and calculation method. The results of this study were analyzed based on the spatial and time vulnerability of the basin's water use, which can be applied to various parts such as priority decision-making for water business or policy, mitigations for the vulnerable components of the basin, and supporting measures to establishment by providing relevant information about it.